Polyethylene retail carrier bags

INSTRUCTION BOOKLET

GENERAL INFORMATION, INSTRUCTIONS, AND
DEFINITIONS FOR COMMISSION FOREIGN
PRODUCER/EXPORTER QUESTIONNAIRES

Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam
Investigation Nos. 701-TA-462 and 731-TA-1156-1158 (Preliminary)

Further information.--If you have any questions concerning the enclosed
questionnaire(s) or other matters related to these investigations, you may contact
the following member of the Commission=s staff (Fax 202-205-3205):
Joshua Kaplan, Investigator (202-205-3184; E-mail [email protected])

GENERAL INFORMATION
Background.-- These investigations were instituted in response to a petition filed on March 31,
2009, by Hilex Poly Co. LLC, Hartsville, SC and Superbag Corporation, Houston, TX.
Countervailing and/or antidumping duties may be assessed on the subject imports as a result of
these investigations if the Commission makes an affirmative determination of injury, threat, or
material retardation, and if the U.S. Department of Commerce makes an affirmative determination
of subsidization and/or dumping.
Questionnaires and other information pertinent to these investigations are available at
http://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/731_ad_701_cvd/investigations/2009/prcb/prelimphase.
htm. Address all correspondence to the United States International Trade Commission,
Washington, DC 20436. Hearing-impaired individuals can obtain information regarding these
investigations via the Commission=s TDD terminal (202-205-1810).
Due date of questionnaire(s).-- Return the completed questionnaire(s) to the United States
International Trade Commission by no later than April 14, 2009. Use of an overnight mail service
may be necessary to ensure that your response actually reaches the Commission by April 14, 2009.
Please make sure the completed questionnaire is sent to the attention of Joshua Kaplan. Return
only one copy of the completed questionnaire(s), but please keep a copy for your records so
that you can refer to it if the Commission staff contacts you with any questions during the
course of the investigations.
Service of questionnaire response(s).--In the event that your firm is a party to these investigations,
you are required to serve a copy of the questionnaire(s), once completed, on parties to the
proceeding that are subject to administrative protective order (see 19 CFR ' 207.7). A list of such
parties is maintained by the Commission=s Secretary and may be obtained by calling
202-205-1803. A certificate of service must accompany the copy of the completed questionnaire(s)
you submit (see 19 CFR ' 207.7).
Confidentiality.--The commercial and financial data furnished in response to the enclosed
questionnaire(s) that reveal the individual operations of your firm will be treated as confidential by
the Commission to the extent that such data are not otherwise available to the public and will not
be disclosed except as may be required by law (see 19 U.S.C. ' 1677f). Such confidential
information will not be published in a manner that will reveal the individual operations of your
firm; however, nonnumerical characterizations of numerical business proprietary information
(such as discussion of trends) will be treated as confidential business information only at the
request of the submitter for good cause shown.

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GENERAL INFORMATION--Continued
Verification.--The information submitted in the enclosed questionnaire(s) is subject to audit
and verification by the Commission. To facilitate possible verification of data, please keep
all your workpapers and supporting documents used in the preparation of the questionnaire
response(s).
Release of information.--The information provided by your firm in response to the
questionnaire(s), as well as any other business proprietary information submitted by your firm to
the Commission in connection with the investigations, may become subject to, and released under,
the administrative protective order provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. ' 1677f) and
section 207.7 of the Commission=s Rules of Practice and Procedure (19 CFR ' 207.7). This means
that certain lawyers and other authorized individuals may temporarily be given access to the
information for use in connection with these investigations or other import-injury investigations
conducted by the Commission on the same or similar merchandise; those individuals would be
subject to severe penalties if the information were divulged to unauthorized individuals.
INSTRUCTIONS
Answer all questions.--Do not leave any question or section blank unless a questionnaire
expressly directs you to skip over certain questions or sections. If the answer to any question is
Anone,@ write Anone.@ If information is not readily available from your records in exactly the
form requested, furnish carefully prepared estimates--designated as such by the letter
AE@--and explain the basis of your estimates. Answers to questions and any necessary
comments or explanations should be supplied in the space provided or on separate sheets attached
to the appropriate page of the questionnaire(s). If your firm is completing more than one
questionnaire in connection with these investigations (i.e., a producer, importer, and/or foreign
producer questionnaire), you need not respond to duplicated questions in the questionnaires.
Consolidate all establishments in Indonesia, Taiwan, and/or Vietnam.--Report the requested
data for your establishment(s) located in Indonesia, Taiwan, and/or Vietnam. Firms operating
more than one establishment in a country should combine the data for all its establishments
in that country. Firms operating establishments in more than one country (e.g. both
Indonesia and Vietnam) should provide separate data for establishments in each country.
Filing instructions.--Questionnaires may be filed either in paper form or electronically.

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INSTRUCTIONS--Continued
OPTIONS FOR FILING IN PAPER FORM
• Overnight mail service.—Mail to the following address:
United States International Trade Commission
Office of Investigations, Room 615
500 E Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024
• Fax.—Fax to 202.205.3205.
• U.S. mail.—Mail to the address above, but use zip code 20436. This option is not recommended.
U.S. mail sent to government offices undergoes additional processing to screen for hazardous
materials; this additional processing results in substantial delays in delivery.
OPTIONS FOR FILING ELECTRONICALLY
This questionnaire is available as a “fillable” form in MS Word format at
http://www.usitc.gov/trade_remedy/731_ad_701_cvd/investigations/2009/prcb/preli
mphase.htm. Please do not attempt to modify the format or permissions of the
questionnaire document. You may complete the questionnaire electronically, print it out,
and submit it in paper form as described above, or you may submit it electronically through
one of the following means:
• Compact disc (CD).—Copy your questionnaire onto a CD, include a signed certification page
(page 1) (either in paper form or scanned PDF copied onto CD), and mail to the address above. It
is strongly recommended that you use an overnight mail service. U.S. mail sent to government
offices undergoes additional processing which not only results in substantial delays in delivery but
may also damage CDs.
• E-mail.—E-mail your questionnaire to the investigator identified on page 1 of the Instruction
Booklet; include a scanned PDF of the signed certification page (page 1). Type the following in
the e-mail subject line: INV. NOS. 701-TA-462 and 731-TA-1156-1158. Please note that
submitting your questionnaire by e-mail may subject your firm’s business proprietary information
to transmission over an unsecure environment and to possible disclosure. If you choose this
option, the Commission warns you that any risk involving possible disclosure of such information
is assumed by the submitter and not by the Commission.
Note: If you are a party to the investigations, and service of the questionnaire is required, such
service should be made in paper form.

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DEFINITIONS
Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags.--The merchandise subject to these petitions is polyethylene
retail carrier bags (“PRCB”), which also may be referred to as t-shirt sacks, merchandise bags,
grocery bags, or checkout bags. The subject merchandise is defined as non-sealable sacks and
bags with handles (including drawstrings), without zippers or integral extruded closures, with or
without gussets, with or without printing, of polyethylene film having a thickness no greater than
0.035 inch (0.889 mm) and no less than 0.00035 inch (0.00889 mm), and with no length or width
shorter than 6 inches (15.24 cm) or longer than 40 inches (101.6 cm). The depth of the bag may
be shorter than 6 inches but not longer than 40 inches (101.6 cm). PRCBs are typically provided
without any consumer packaging and free of charge by retail establishments, e.g., grocery, drug,
convenience, department, specialty retail, discount stores, and restaurants, to their customers to
package and carry their purchased products. The scope of the petition excludes (1) polyethylene
bags that are not printed with logos or store names and that are closeable with drawstrings made
of polyethylene film and (2) polyethylene bags that are packed in consumer packaging with
printing that refers to specific end-uses other than packaging and carrying merchandise from retail
establishments, e.g., garbage bags, lawn bags, trash-can liners. The subject imports are imported
under statistical reporting number 3923.21.0085 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS).
Firm.--An individual proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation
(including any subsidiary corporation), business trust, cooperative, trustee in bankruptcy, or
receiver under decree of any court.
Related firm.--A firm that your firm solely or jointly owned, managed, or otherwise controlled; a
firm that solely or jointly owned, managed, or otherwise controlled your firm; and/or a firm that
was solely or jointly owned, managed, or otherwise controlled by a firm that also solely or jointly
owned, managed, or otherwise controlled your firm.
Establishment.--Each facility of a firm in Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam involved in the
production of PRCBs (as defined above), including auxiliary facilities operated in conjunction
with (whether or not physically separate from) such facilities.
United States.--For purposes of these investigations, the 50 States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin
Islands, and the District of Columbia.
Importer.--Any person or firm engaged, either directly or through a parent company or subsidiary,
in importing PRCBs (as defined above) into the United States from a foreign manufacturer or
through its selling agent.
Average production capacity.--The level of production that your establishment(s) could
reasonably have expected to attain during the specified periods. Assume normal operating
conditions (i.e., using equipment and machinery in place and ready to operate; normal operating
levels (hours per week/weeks per year) and time for downtime, maintenance, repair, and cleanup;
and a typical or representative product mix).
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DEFINITIONS--Continued
Production.--All production in your establishment(s) in Indonesia, Taiwan, and/or Vietnam,
including production consumed internally within your firm.
Shipments.--Shipments of products produced in your establishment(s) in Indonesia, Taiwan,
and/or Vietnam. Quantities reported should be net of returns.
Home market commercial shipments.--Shipments, other than internal consumption and
transfers to related firms, within Indonesia, Taiwan, and/or Vietnam.
Home market internal consumption/transfers to related firms.--Shipments made to
related firms in Indonesia, Taiwan, and/or Vietnam, including product consumed internally
by your firm.
Export shipments.--Shipments to destinations outside Indonesia, Taiwan, and/or Vietnam,
including shipments to related firms.
Inventories.--Finished goods inventory, not raw materials or work-in-progress.

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